2.2 – Dalek Empire II – Dalek War: Chapter Two

The Dalek Supreme’s forces have found Susan Mendes and her friends. Will they be able to escape?

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Styre
on May 7, 2016 at 8:42 PM

DALEK EMPIRE II: DALEK WAR

CHAPTER TWO

After two parts, at least, Dalek Empire II: Dalek War seems to be taking a safer path than the first series: while the plot is much tighter, more polished, and interesting, the series just isn’t as thematically interesting. The revelation that the alt-universe “friendly” Daleks are just as violent and controlling as their “real-world” counterparts is thoroughly unsurprising and not especially deep: as themes go, “a benevolent dictatorship is still a dictatorship” is shallower than most. But, as above, the plot is much more gripping: first of all, Kalendorf’s continued dealings with the Mentor are brilliant, as she attempts to catch him off guard with questions about Mirana’s scout ship and he maintains his ignorant facade without cracking. Even as the revelations about Suz are delivered, Kalendorf’s plan remains totally unclear and serves as a powerful hook for the third part. Furthermore, the mysteriously-terraformed Jupiter is a striking concept, perhaps the most imaginative idea from Nicholas Briggs thus far — unfortunately, it’s really an [i]obvious[/i] trap, and all the distractions in the world don’t entirely convince me that Kalendorf would so willingly declare his intent to land. Morli (Dannie Carr) is a useful and necessary character to accompany Alby through his flashback sequence, but do we really need the exaggerated regional accents? Briggs, additionally, is on shaky ground when he re-introduces the idea of hope paradoxically keeping people under Dalek control — the Daleks did absolutely nothing with this knowledge in the first series, and raising it again invites a payoff I don’t really expect. This isn’t Sarah Mowat’s finest hour, as she still doesn’t convince when asked to speak with authority, but Mark McDonnell may never be better than he is here. Until the hilariously melodramatic “NOOOOOOOOOO!” cliffhanger, of course. Chapter Two, at the end of the day, is flawed, but gripping despite itself.